Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock: Insider Ann Chaplin Sells 1,827 Shares

Key Points

• Qualcomm EVP Ann Chaplin sold 1,827 shares for approximately $319,268 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her direct stake by 6.62% to 25,770 shares.
• QCOM shares fell to $172.11, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating and a $204.10 average price target. The company’s latest quarterly EPS slightly missed estimates, although revenue exceeded expectations.
• Institutional investors own 74.35% of Qualcomm, with several major firms—including Van ECK, Invesco and Amundi—recently increasing their positions.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) EVP Ann Chaplin sold 1,827 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $319,268.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,503,307.50. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

Shares of Qualcomm stock traded down $6.29 on Friday, reaching $172.11. 12,501,296 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,269,714. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 52 week low of $121.99 and a 52 week high of $259.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.94 and a 200 day moving average of $179.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on QCOM. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $200.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Craig Hallum downgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Qualcomm currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $204.10.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,583,115,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 52,763,263 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $9,750,123,000 after buying an additional 671,537 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 22.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $3,178,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179,720 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,163,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771,490 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Qualcomm by 94.1% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $1,884,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,908 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm appears to have prevailed in its licensing dispute with Arm. A Delaware jury found that Arm breached its license agreement with Qualcomm, supporting Qualcomm’s position in a dispute that could have affected the company’s ability to use Arm-based designs. The verdict is a potential legal and strategic win, although further proceedings may still be required. Jury finds Arm breached license agreement with Qualcomm
• Positive Sentiment: A renewed Apple licensing agreement improves revenue visibility. Qualcomm’s continued licensing relationship with Apple helps support its high-margin patent-licensing business, even as Apple works to develop more of its own modem technology. Qualcomm renews Apple license
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm expanded its 5G licensing coverage with Transsion through 2031. The extended agreement provides longer-term royalty visibility in emerging smartphone markets. Qualcomm, Transsion Extend 5G Patent License Deal
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched an AI-native Wi-Fi 8 gateway. The product combines next-generation connectivity with edge AI computing, supporting Qualcomm’s strategy to diversify beyond smartphones into home broadband and AI-enabled devices. Qualcomm unveils AI-native Wi-Fi 8 gateway
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Qualcomm as a cash-generative wireless technology company with growth opportunities in automotive, AI and other markets, but investors remain focused on the pace of its transition away from handset dependence. Qualcomm: Navigating the shift from handsets to AI
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide chip selling is pressuring QCOM. Qualcomm’s legal win has not prevented broader weakness across semiconductor stocks, with investors reducing exposure to chipmakers. Chip selloff following Qualcomm verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Samsung could replace Qualcomm’s chip in the Galaxy S27 Ultra if thermal issues persist raise concerns about flagship handset share and Qualcomm’s near-term mobile revenue. Samsung may swap Galaxy S27 Ultra chip
• Negative Sentiment: MediaTek’s reported progress toward an AI data-center chip pact with ByteDance highlights increasing competition in Qualcomm’s effort to build an AI and data-center business. ByteDance and MediaTek AI chip pact

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated NASDAQ: QCOM is a technology company headquartered in San Diego, California, that develops wireless communications technologies, semiconductors and related software. Its products support mobile devices, connected computing, automotive systems, industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

Qualcomm's semiconductor business operates primarily through its Qualcomm CDMA Technologies segment. Its offerings include Snapdragon platforms and systems-on-chip, cellular modems, radio-frequency components, connectivity products, and processors for smartphones, personal computers, extended-reality devices, vehicles and the Internet of Things.

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